This invention relates generally to telecommunication networks and more specifically to a UTOPIA 2-UTOPIA 3 translator.
UTOPIA (Universal Test and Operation Interface) defines the interface between the physical layers (PHY) and higher telecommunication levels such as the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) layer. UTOPIA defines a common PHY interface in ATM subsystems across a wide range of speeds and media types.
One common type of UTOPIA interface is the UTOPIA Level 2 or UTOPIA 2 interface. It provides a 16 bit data path and a data rate of up to 800 Mbps.
FIG. 1 illustrates the UTOPIA 2 interface in a typical embodiment. Illustrated is a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPE) 5 (such as ADSL modems) coupled to a DSLAM 6 in a central office via transmission line 7. Transmission line 7 passes a signal to POTS splitter 8 which removes and reroutes the POTS signal from transmission line 7. The remaining data signal passes to a plurality of modems 9 which are coupled to physical layer devices (PHY) 10. Between PHY 10 and a switching matrix 13 is a UTOPIA 2 master 12 which provides the interface between physical layer devices 10 and matrix 13. Matrix 13 connects to an ATM network 16 through a UTOPIA 2 master 14 which is coupled to an OC3 physical layer device 15.
One drawback of UTOPIA 2 is that it is limited to 5 bit addressing. This limits a UTOPIA 2 master to address only 31 physical layer devices (the 32nd address is an idle state used by the master 22 to check each physical layer device). This further limits the number of modems in DSLAM 14.
A new version of UTOPIA, UTOPIA Level 3 or UTOPIA 3 has been proposed which overcomes the 31 physical layer limitation of UTOPIA 2. The proposed UTOPIA 3 format, as currently implemented, has a 32 bit data path versus a 16 bit data path for UTOPIA 2. UTOPIA 3 has a variable number of physical devices that can be attached as opposed to being limited to 31 devices, as in the case of Utopia 2. Also, UTOPIA 3 operates at a 100 MHZ clock speed as opposed to the 50 MHz clock speed of the UTOPIA 2 format.
Since many UTOPIA 2 masters are already installed, it would be advantageous to add UTOPIA 3 capabilities to existing UTOPIA 2 systems. For example, a current UTOPIA 2 implementation is limited to 31 physical devices due to its five bit addressing. If a system required 248 physical devices to be attached to a UTOPIA interface, it would require at least eight separate UTOPIA 2 systems to handle the 248 devices. The present inventions object is to allow a UTOPIA 3 interface to be coupled to the physical device side and a UTOPIA 2 interface on the communication switching side. In the above example, to require 248 devices from 31 UTOPIA 2 addresses would require eight UTOPIA 3 channels for every UTOPIA 2 channel, a factor of eight per channel. This would require integer of (log2(248)) lines (where 248 is equal to the total number of physical devices, or the number of UTOPIA 2 devices, 31, multiplied by the UTOPIA 3 factor), or 8 bit UTOPIA 3 addressing.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a UTOPIA 2-UTOPIA 3 translator. The present invention includes a system and method that provides a UTOPIA 2-UTOPIA 3 translator that addresses the shortcoming of prior systems and methods.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a system with an interface between a physical layer and a communication format layer is provided. The system comprises a UTOPIA 3 receiver operable to receive information from a physical layer device, a UTOPIA 2 to UTOPIA 3 controller operable to receive data from UTOPIA 3 physical layer receiver and convert it to a UTOPIA 2 format, and a UTOPIA 2 master receiver coupled to UTOPIA 2 to UTOPIA 3 controller and operable to receive information from the UTOPIA 2 to UTOPIA 3 controller and send it to the higher communication network. The system also includes a UTOPIA 2 master transmitter operable to receive data information from a communication network, a UTOPIA 2 to UTOPIA 3 controller transmitter coupled to the UTOPIA 2 master transmitter and operable to receive data from UTOPIA 2 master transmitter, and a UTOPIA 3 physical layer transmitter operable to receive data from the UTOPIA 3 to UTOPIA 2 transmitter and send the data to a physical layer device.
The present invention provides various technical advantages. For example, a system is provided that allows for more physical devices to systems where UTOPIA 2 is already deployed without having to replace a complete system. Other technical advantages may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions and claims.